American Imperialism & The Philippine War
.... Just days after the victory in Manila Bay, Dewey requested the President to send reinforcements so that he could proceed to take the capital city of Manila. If McKinley were to agree to such a request he would, in essence, be committing the United States to an imperialistic foreign policy, whereby falling out of favor with anti-imperialists at home. Moreover, if he permitted Dewey to attack Manila, the United States would then become liable and responsible for the city under international law. If he declined Dewey’s request he threatened to lose the support of the growing number of powerful imperialist within America. With his back to the wall, President McKinley decided to send 20,000 troops to reinforce Dewey’s fleet in Manila. Although McKinley dispatched reinforcements, at the time he “did not have a firm policy regarding the disposition of the islands. He might take a naval base and leave the Philippines in Spanish hands; he might become the champion of Philippine independence; or he might take the entire group of islands as an American colony.” Only time would tell. Eventually, the United States, under the direction of its Commander in Chief, would choose the third option, while deviously manipulating the second option to their advantage. Long before McKinley had made the decision to capture Manila, Commodore Dewey and Consul-General E. Spencer Pratt had taken it upon themselves to secure a military alliance between the United States and a large band of Filipino revolutionaries led by Emilio Aguinaldo. These insurrectos had fought a grueling war of independence against Spain in 1896. The war ended after just one year, by means of peace treaty, and Aguinaldo was forced into exile in Hong Kong. While in exile Aguinaldo met with Pratt in Singapore on April 24th, 1898 - the same day the U.S. declared war on Spain. During the course of this meeting, Pratt promised Aguinaldo independence in return for undivided military cooperation. It has been rumored that Commodore Dewey also promised independence to Aguinaldo, but no concrete evidence exists to prove such a theory. Perhaps Pratt openly deceived Aguinaldo by telling him that Dewey too was promising independence when, in fact, Dewey had made no such pledge. Or perhaps Dewey did indeed promise Filipino independence in return for support. The truth of the matter has been hidden somewhere in the quagmires of history. Nevertheless, Aguinaldo agreed to support the Americans in their war against Spain - a plan that Dewey accepted with open arms. Thus, with visions of independence, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines to revitalize the revolutionary movement. Before U.S. expeditionary forces arrived in Manila Bay to reinforce Dewey, Aguinaldo had organized his revolutionary forces and proceeded to blockade Spanish forces in Manila on the land. Essentially, Spanish forces were surrounded. With the insurrectos surrounding them on land and U.S. forces containing them at sea, there existed little chance for victory, let alone escape. Once the 20,000 man U.S. expedition force arrived in late July, the plan to lay siege to Manila was set in action. Yet this plan, was by no means, conventional. General Fermin Jaudenes, the astute Spanish commander of Manila, realized the imminence of his defeat. Therefore, on August 12th he met with Dewey to finalize a plan that would eventually culminate in one of the oddest battles in history. Unbeknownst to the insurrectos, during the aforementioned meeting America and Spain had agreed to fight a mock battle that would end in the unconditional surrender of Manila. Such a plan was meant to hand over Manila to the United States without an extravagant loss of life, while allowing General Jaudenes to escape with his Spanish honor in tact. With the battle plan secured, U.S. forces under the command of General Wesley Merritt began the siege of Manila during the early hours of August 13th, 1898. Yet, due to suspicions that the Filipino insurrectos would not be controllable once engaged in combat within city limits, U.S. military authorities commanded the revolutionaries to stay out of the ‘walled-city’ of Manila. They were given direct orders to remain in their trenches outside city limits until further notice. This order resulted in the initial rift between the U.S. forces and the Filipino insurrectos - a rift that, with a little help, would eventually culminate in the Philippine-American War. With the insurrectos firmly entrenched outside Manila, U.S. forces proceeded to carry out their pre-arranged ‘mock battle’. By day’s end, Merritt’s forces had received the unconditional surrender of General Jaudenes and captured the city with farcical ease. After the siege of Manila, tensions between U.S. troops and insurrectos mounted. While the recently vanquished Spaniards were treated with respect and consideration, the Filipino revolutionaries, who had previously pledged their allegiance to the U.S. cause, were treated like foes. Insurrectos were forbidden to enter the ‘walled-city’ bearing arms. When they did enter Manila, U.S. troops berated them and treated them with the utmost contempt. The insurrectos hurled back insults in return. Animosity and tension grew between the both sides. On September 13th, General Elwell Otis orders Aguinaldo to evacuate his revolutionary headquarters of Bacoor by September 15th. Aguinaldo grudgingly obliged, and moved his forces to Malolos where he would eventually set up a provisional government. This event served to further the tension and distrust between the two sides. Finally, on December 10th, the Treaty of Paris was signed by both Spain and the United States. This was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. From this point onward there existed only two possibilities for the relationship between U.S. troops and Filipino revolutionaries in Manila. Either the Filipino insurgents would submit to U.S. rule or outright war would occur. Given the open hostilities between the two sides, war became a foregone conclusion. Just after dusk on February 4th, 1899 war became a reality. Earlier that day, a Nebraskan regiment was advanced into territory that did not belong to the U.S., and was advised by General Otis “to feel free to fire if they [spotted] any rebel intruders.” At 8 p.m. on the day in question, Private William Grayson and his friend Private Miller stood on sentry duty outside of Santol. Private Grayson spotted an intruder. Remembering the orders issued by General Otis he decided that “the best thing to do was shoot him…so he did.” As the bullet from Private Grayson’s gun tore through the intruder’s body the Philippine-American War, a war sometimes referred to as the Philippine Insurrection, officially began. Grayson later blamed the “bull-headedness of the officers” for the provocation outside U.S. lines. After Grayson had fired the infamous first shot, gunfire rose on both sides. “A bloody battle [ensued], in which the Filipinos suffered high casualties (perhaps as many as 3,000 killed) and were forced to withdraw.” This mêlée marked the beginning of a war that be waged for the succeeding three years - a...